Run-DMC’s Self-Titled Debut: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective

Run-DMC almost singlehandedly ushered in the New School Era of Hip-Hop and ended the Old School Era with the release of their 1983 smash single “It’s Like That”/”Sucker MC’s.”

The record captured the spirit and the stripped down, straight forward energy of the park jam and put it on a record at a time when people were making rap versions of popular radio singles and trying to appeal to audiences other than B-Boys and B-Girls. Run-DMC’s A side was a commentary of the Reaganomics 80’s and inner city blight in the mold of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s 1982 hit “The Message” but slightly edgier, more direct and urgent. The B-side, however, changed everything. “Sucker MC’s” was a straight forward beat from a drum machine with no catchy chorus in which DJ Run did exactly what he’d do on the mic at a throw down in the park. It was stripped down & bare. It was minimalist. It was also completely revolutionary.